It’s weird when I stumble upon an artifact which reminds me of a previous life. For instance, the watch I wear every day is a relic of the past, a gift from someone long out of my life. It’s not that it has any sentimental value remaining; it’s merely a very nice watch. When I think about it’s origin, I don’t get sad, or miss the past or the individual who gave me it, it just causes some uneasiness about my “past lives” so to speak. I find it strange thinking back to different places, circles of friends, relationships, and motivations that I thought would last a lifetime. I no longer see the past from my own eyes, but rather as if I’m watching a movie. While this would be fine on it’s own, the ghosts of overwhelming emotion I once had in each of these situations seems to contradict the faint movie-like reminiscence of logic, and this disparity puts me ill at ease. And all this at only 21 years of age. I can only imagine what it must be like for my venerable elders, those white haired (or bald) seniors who seem to have experienced everything, and then a little more. This fills me both with apprehension and excitement.
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I definitely feel like this with some of the gifts I’ve received from people in my past — I’ve found that it”s kind of just a nod to who I once was and then my life goes on =P.
I have a wife and many children now. I feel that way about the social circles I had when I was in my late teens and early twenties. “Good friends we had, Good friends we lost” My perspective is that I’m thankful for the friends and relationships I had while they lasted. I can’t continue all of them but hope that I made a positive impact then, and that I can make an even more positive impact on those I meet in the future.
Ah, you’ve found my already-wistful thoughts of my 21 year old self, PWB :
In the 8 years that have come and gone, I’ve found my wife and the “many children” is likely in the nearish future. I like your (and Bob Marley’s
perspective on evolution of relationships and crossing paths. Be both practical and positive.
Thanks for stopping by PWB. I’ve been enjoying a lot of your posts recently too, especially the 10x NW in 10 years goal and NW index. I’ve never really formulated a goal that way but it does make it easier to share publicly. Quickly checking my own family’s numbers, it seems like we’re on a similar path. If we continue saving and investing at our current rate, we’ll be close to 10x NW in 7 years. Of course, continuing this aggressively will likely be challenging once kids come into the picture. But I’ll let you show the way.